


A four-hour head start

by TwilightPony21



Category: FBI (TV 2018)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 12:20:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29064213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightPony21/pseuds/TwilightPony21
Summary: Scola and Wallace search for a couple of familiar fugitives.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	A four-hour head start

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! As much as I love Maggie and OA, I have to admit that I'm also a pretty big Stuart Scola fan. I love his deadpan humor and the total ice in his veins. I'm trying to figure out how to write him in fanfic and this is my first attempt! I tried to write Tiffany too, although I feel like we haven't seen enough of her on the show yet. I hope you like this little one-shot and I hope Scola sounds in character. Thanks for reading!

Special Agent Stuart Scola was pretty sure he hadn’t joined the FBI for days like this.

He had left behind the elitist, cut-throat world of Wall Street to help people, to be a part of something that mattered, and to find the real good in the world. But it was hard to see the good today, after a sting operation had gone horribly wrong and Special Agent Maggie Bell had been arrested for murder and Scola had barely managed to hold back Special Agent OA Zidan as NYPD hauled Maggie away in handcuffs.

Now it was way too early the next morning, and Scola and his partner Special Agent Tiffany Wallace stood quietly in Isobel’s office, awaiting further instructions. The somber faces of Isobel and Jubal, both filled with worry and concern, didn’t exactly give Scola a warm and fuzzy feeling.

“OA broke Maggie out of prison around 2:00 this morning,” Isobel finally said.

Scola rarely ever blinked in surprise, but this time he did.

“We’re not exactly sure how,” she continued, “but they’ve been on the run ever since.”

“We haven’t been able to track them so we don’t know where they’re going,” Jubal added, “but we’re pretty sure that OA isn’t thinking straight anymore.”

Scola checked his watch. “So he’s got about a four-hour head start on us.”

“Never said he wasn’t thinking smart,” Jubal pointed out.

“And now that he’s got Maggie with him, the two of them will be almost impossible to find,” Isobel stated gravely. She handed over a slip of paper. “Scola, I need you and Tiffany to head upstate to this address and see if you can track them down. We got a tip that someone might have seen them spending the night at a motel a few miles off the interstate. It’s a long shot, but it’s something.”

Scola nodded and locked eyes with Tiffany with a slight nod towards the door.

“And Scola?” Isobel called. “I really need you to keep a cool head on this one. Remember that they’re not agents anymore…they’re fugitives now.”

~*~o~*~

“You’re worried,” Tiffany observed.

They had been sitting in traffic for only a few minutes, but Scola hadn’t said much and while it was barely noticeable, he appeared to be gripping the steering wheel tighter than usual.

“’Course I’m worried,” Scola replied evenly. “This has been one hell of a week already and now we’re chasing two of our own out here.”

“You heard Isobel,” Tiffany pointed out. “They’re fugitives now.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“So you think Maggie’s innocent,” Tiffany concluded.

Scola kept his eyes on the road and didn’t answer for a long moment. “Don’t think OA would be going to all this trouble if she weren’t.”

His voice was unusually low, and the way he spoke made Tiffany fall silent again as they merged onto the interstate.

“There could be another reason,” Tiffany finally said.

“Yeah, what’s that?” he asked distractedly.

“He’s in love with her.”

Scola shot his partner a skeptical look.

“I’m just saying,” Tiffany continued defensively. “Now I haven’t known them as long as you have, but I do know that love can make you do some pretty crazy things.”

“Yeah, well, if I know OA, he’s looking for justice first, and he won’t stop until he gets it.” Scola glanced around at the heavy traffic beginning to fill the lanes in front of him, forcing him to tap the brakes and slow his speed. “And that four-hour head start that he’s got on us is about to get even longer.”

~*~o~*~

“FBI,” Scola said, flashing his badge at the man behind the motel reception desk. “Agents Scola and Wallace. We’re wondering if you might have seen this man.” He held up his phone with a shot of OA’s federal ID photo.

“Nope,” came the gruff answer.

“Sir, it usually helps to look at the photo.”

“Haven’t seen him.”

It was almost faster than a reflex that Scola had the man pressed to the desk with his face squashed against the surface and his arm twisted behind his back.

“You know,” Scola said coolly, “it’s a bad idea to lie to the FBI any day, but especially on a day like today.” He punctuated his sentence by twisting the man’s arm just a little tighter and crunching his bones just a little harder and…

“Okay, okay!” he yelped. “I might have seen him. Came in with a woman and asked for a room. But I don’t know anything more than that. I don’t get all up in my customers’ business and whatever he’s doing in there with a beautiful woman…if you know what I mean.”

“All right, just give us the key,” Scola said, finally releasing his grip.

The man quickly scurried away from Scola, wincing and rubbing his shoulder as he handed over the keycard.

“Thanks,” Scola said. He gave a polite nod. “You have yourself a nice day now.”

~*~o~*~

“Is this what you look like when you’re worried?” Tiffany whispered.

As far as she could tell, there had been no change in Scola’s expression all morning. Now the two agents were standing on either side of the door to room 114, their guns drawn as they moved into position. The window shades were closed, and there didn’t appear to be any noise or movement inside.

Scola frowned. “Let’s just say I’m a little less worried about finding these two _in flagrante delicto_ and a little more worried about finding them at all.”

He gave Tiffany a slight nod as he raised his gun. On his signal, she swiped the keycard and opened the door.

“FBI!” Scola called out.

He strode into the room to the right as Tiffany went left, but they quickly found no one there.

“Clear,” he said.

“Clear,” she called.

Scola holstered his gun and sighed. The room was clean, the bed was still made, the two desk chairs were neatly pushed in, and nothing appeared to have been touched at all.

“Damn it, OA,” he muttered, “where are you?”

“Nothing in here,” Tiffany said, emerging from the bathroom. “You gonna call Jubal?”

“Nah, not yet.”

Tiffany looked over at her partner, as she hadn’t expected him to say that all. It surprised her even more to see him pull out one of the desk chairs and take a seat. “Scola, what are you doing?”

“Well, Tiff, the way I see it is that it’ll take Maggie and OA longer than a four-hour head start to prove her innocence,” Scola explained, reclining slightly in his chair. “So the best thing we can do is make sure they have even more time than that.”

There was a hint of a rather satisfied half-smile on his face, and Tiffany found herself smiling a little, too.

And so she pulled out the other chair and sat down next to him.


End file.
